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H.R. 4778 (113th Congress): Atomic Veterans Service Medal Act

This bill was introduced on May 30, 2014, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.
Sponsor: James McGovern, Representative for Massachusetts's 2nd congressional District.
Atomic Veterans Service Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to: (1) design and produce a military service medal to be known as the Atomic Veterans Service Medal, to honor retired and former members of the Armed Forces who participated in a radiation-risk activity while serving on active duty; and (2) issue the Medal to such veterans or their next of kin.

Click Here To watch YouTube video as Congressman Jim McGovern presents this bill on the House Floor.

Comments From The Editor: Atomic Veterans were used as human guinea pigs to test nuclear weapons during the Cold War. They were exposed to
harmful nuclear radiation and fallout from the detonation of nuclear bombs. Many Atomic Veterans suffered fatal diseases as the result of these tests. Studies have discovered that aproximately 20% of Atomic Veterans fathered
children with birth defects. It's about time for our country to do right by these veterans and pass the Atomic Veterans Service Medal Act. Time is running out for Atomic Veterans, there are not many left, many have already
died. Issuing the Atomic Veterans Service Medal to Atomic Veterans would mean so much to these Veterans and their families. Please help by calling your Representative or Senator about this important matter.

Click Here For current list of United States Senators, their Email and Postal Addresses.

Click Here To read the complete Atomic Veteran Service Medal Act in a PDF format.

U. S. MILITARY PERSONNEL CAN OBTAIN PROOF OF PARTICIPATION

The U. S. Department of Energy (DoE) in Las Vegas, Nevada has copies of the Film Badge Radiation Exposure History for persons who participated in nuclear tests, send for your film badge history today to obtain proof you were present at a nuclear test/tests.

Requests for Radiation Exposure Histories can be made by completing the form NSO-192

Request the Radiation Exposure Film Badge History form NSO-192, you will also need the Privacy Act Form attached to it, be sure to send both to the address above. If the person exposed to radiation is deceased, surviving family members may file a claim, they will need to sign an "Affidavit of Surviving Relative Form." Download the forms from this web site below in a PDF format. Send the NSO-192, the Privacy Act part and the Affidavit of Surviving Relative forms if the latter applies in your case. The links below provide all the necessary forms to begin a Radiaton Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Claim.

YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION PROGRAM. Persons who may be eligible are: Onsite Participant The Act specifies a payment of $75,000 --- Downwinder The Act specifies a payment of $50,000 --- Ore Transporter The Act specifies a payment of $100,000 --- Uranium Miner The Act specifies a payment of $100,000 --- Uranium Miller The Act specifies a payment of $100,000

The purpose of this web site is to provide information to Atomic Veterans and others who were exposed to harmful nuclear radiation. Links and addresses are provided within this page where persons can locate their military records or to order forms for filing claims. A list of presumptive Radiogenic diseases associated with radioactive exposure covered by Law is also provided.

Many Laws have been passed to aid Atomic Veterans and others who were exposed to radiation and have experienced adverse health problems because of exposure to radiation.

The U.S. Department of Justice funds the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and has millions of dollars to provide payment to persons who have become ill or died as the result of radiation exposure. All claimants must qualify for the RECA compensation.

Follow these three simple steps.

NOTE: DO NOT FILE YOUR CLAIM WITH THE VA

Contact the U. S. Department of Energy in Las Vegas, Nevada and request your Radiation Exposure Film Badge History so you can prove you were in the nuclear tests, the names of all nuclear test participants are kept there.

Request the Radiation Exposure Film Badge History form NSO-192, you will also need the Privacy Act Form, request both forms. When you receive the forms from Las Vegas, fill them out completely and return them to the DoE Las Vegas address, you should receive your Radiation Exposure Film Badge History in a few weeks.

After you complete filling out all forms, submit them to the U. S. Department of Justice. It would also be helpful to have your Doctor or Attorney attach an affidavit stating that it's their opinion the health problem of the person affected was caused by radiation exposure at a U. S. nuclear test site.

This web site furnishes all the information you need to file a claim with the DoJ but it's up to you to follow through, we can't do it for you, if you need more help, have your attorney or a veterans organization assist you with your claim.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ATOMIC VETERANS

Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)

Atomic Veterans, Onsite Participants and others may be eligible for compensation

The RECA Act specifies a payment of $75,000 to individuals who participated onsite in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device, and later developed a specified compensable disease.

NOTE: In the event the Atomic Veteran is deceased, family members may file a claim. There is no time limit after the death of an Atomic Veteran that would prevent family members to file.

U. S. FALLOUT MAP

Map from Richard Miller's excellent book "Under The Cloud"Areas of the
continental United States crossed by more than one nuclear cloud during the atmospheric atomic tests.

The atomic blasts of the 1950s and 1960s illuminated the Southwestern deserts, shattering windows in Las Vegas, and hurled billowing clouds of radioactive dust. For many years these clouds drifted across America poisoning animals and people in Utah and searing the boot soles of troops on maneuvers just yards from ground zero.

MERCURY, NEVADA - THE U. S. ATOMIC TEST FACILITY

70 miles Northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada

Click Banner to find the Weather for any City, State or Zip Code

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

FOR PERSONS AFFECTED BY NUCLEAR RADIATION:

In 1988, Congress established a presumption of service connection for 13 different cancers in veterans exposed to ionizing radiation. Later changes brought the number to 16. Under provisions of the Radiation-Exposed Veterans Compensation Act (Pub. L. 100-321), veterans are presumed to be service connected if they participated in a radiation-risk activity and later developed one of the following diseases: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), cancer of the thyroid, breast, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, gall bladder, bile ducts, salivary gland, or urinary tract, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (except Hodgkin's disease), primary cancer of the liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), or bronchiolo-aveolar carcinoma, many more diseases have been added recently.

Veterans exposed to radiation during their military service and diagnosed with cancer of the bone, brain, colon, lung, or ovary will have an easier time applying for and receiving compensation for their illnesses if proposed changes to VA regulations are approved.

Recently there were proposals to add more cancers to the list of illnesses presumed to be connected to the military service of "Atomic Veterans," thereby lessening their burden of proof when seeking compensation.

Check Out These Informative Links:

CLICK THIS LINK To view the page listing the names of soldiers of Company "A" 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment who were present at the 1951 Nevada atomic tests. If you know where any of these men are now, contact the Editor of this Web Site, Thanks.

CLICK THIS LINK To read the story about Atomic Veteran Thomas J. Roth, "The Soldier in the Sketch".

CLICK THIS LINK To read the story about The "Able" Test detonation that took place on 22 October 1951. This was the first detonation in the Buster Jangle nuclear test series. It was a dud and exposed participant soldiers to excessive amounts of harmful radiation.

CLICK THIS LINK To read about The Atomic Birdcage we guarded at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The First Battalion of 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment was selected to be the first guards of this secret atomic facility in the early 1950s. This page also displays rare images of the Birdcage bunkers.

CLICK THIS LINK To the Utah Division of State History Page -- About the 1950s nuclear testing in Nevada and “The Utah Downwinders.”

CLICK THIS LINK To read Radiation Death and Deception. This is a State of Utah Web Site. The page describes what the "downwind" people of Utah were subjected to and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) cover-up during atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site.

CLICK THIS LINK To check out a list of publications you may wish to read pertaining to atomic bomb testing in the 1950s and 1960s.

JOIN NAAV TODAY The National Association of Atomic Veterans. Who is an Atomic Veteran? Atomic Veterans were and are members of the United States Armed Forces who participated in atmospheric and underwater nuclear weapons tests from 16 July, 1945 to 30 October 1962.

CLICK HERE Department Of Veterans Affairs -- Diseases Associated with Ionizing Radiation Exposure --- Veterans may be eligible for disability compensation and health care benefits for any disease that VA recognizes as related to radiation exposure during service. Surviving spouses, dependent children and dependent parents of Veterans who died as the result of diseases related to radiation exposure during service may be eligible for survivors' benefits.

The First Battalion of the 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky was the first military unit to be sent to the Navada Atomic Test facility in late 1951. There would be 883 personnel involved in the testing of seven atomic bombs and would be the world's first "atomic warfare maneuver." Code Name for this series of atomic tests was named "Operation Buster Jangle." CLICK TO VIEW ATOMIC PHOTO PAGE